Appia Stakes Additional Potential High-Grade Critical Rare Earth Element Property Surrounding Alces Lake Claims
Toronto, September 6, 2018 - Appia Energy Corp. (CSE: API) (OTCQB: APAAF) (FSE: A0I.F) (FSE: A0I.MU) (FSE: A0I.BE) (the "Company" or "Appia) is pleased to announce the acquisition of a group of contiguous mineral claims by staking in northern Saskatchewan. The new property, named the Oldman property (the "Property"), surrounds the Company's Alces Lake property and comprises 15 mineral claims totalling 12,816 hectares (31,669 acres) in size, expanding the Alces Lake Rare Earth Element Project area to 14,334 hectares (35,420 acres).
The Property was staked along geological and geophysical continuity with the Alces Lake high-grade critical rare earth outcrops. In particular, the Property hosts the Oldman River monazite occurrence, located 6.6 km south-southwest of the Alces Lake monazite-rich outcrops, was discovered in 1955 and shares numerous geological similarities with the Alces Lake outcrops ie; up to 20% visible monazite at surface with monazite crystals measuring between 0.2 and 1.0 mm in diameter, and all hosted by a band of massive, coarse-grained biotite and pegmatite. Visible monazite mineralization occurs as localized clusters traced over a strike length of between 400 m and 500 m.
The Oldman River monazite occurrence was never assayed historically for rare earth elements ("REE") but did return a partial analysis of 5.4 wt% Th and 0.263 wt% U. Thorium ("Th") is part of the crystal structure of monazite and can be used as a proxy for REE concentration, depending on elemental ratios for specific monazite occurrences. For example, the highest Th concentration from samples at Alces Lake returned 5.3 wt% Th and 52.3 wt% Total Rare Earth Oxide.
Mr. James Sykes, VP Exploration and Development for Appia comments, "This is an exciting time for the Company as we continue to explore the Alces Lake property. Rare earth element mineral occurrences continue to be exposed at surface at Alces Lake (see Company News Release dated August 2, 2018), and the strategic staking of the Oldman property solidifies additional high-grade rare earth element assets for the Company."
The thorium and uranium values reported herein are historic laboratory assay results prior to NI 43-101 disclosure standards and may or may not be viewed as reliable. References to the Oldman River monazite occurrence was extracted from Normand, C (2014): Rare Earths in Saskatchewan: Mineralization Types, Settings, and Distributions; Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy, Sask. Geological Survey, Rep. 264.
As reported in the Company's news release on August 2, 2018, nine zones of surface mineralization have been uncovered in the Alces Lake Project area, with channel samples taken and sent to the assay lab, with assay results still pending. Drilling into the zones is currently underway and will continue through the Month of September, with results to be reported as assays become available.
About Appia
Appia is a Canadian publicly-traded company in the uranium and rare earth element sectors. The Company is currently focusing on delineating high-grade critical rare earth elements ("REE") and uranium on the Alces Lake and Oldman properties, as well as prospecting for high-grade uranium in the prolific Athabasca Basin area on its Loranger, North Wollaston, and Eastside properties. The Company holds the surface rights to exploration for 63,980 hectares (158,098 acres) in Saskatchewan.
The Company also has NI 43-101 compliant resources of 8.0 million lbs U3O8 and 47.7 million lbs Total REE Indicated and 20.1 million lbs U3O8 and 133.2 million lbs Total REE Inferred in the Teasdale Zone plus 27.6 million lbs U3O8 Inferred in the Banana Lake Zone in the historic mining camp of Elliot Lake in Ontario (previously reported in the Company's news release dated August 14, 2013). The resources are largely unconstrained along strike and down dip.
Appia's technical team is directed by James Sykes, who has had direct and indirect involvement with over 450 million lbs. U3O8 being discovered in five deposits in the Athabasca Basin.
Appia currently has 58.4 million common shares outstanding, 76.6 million shares fully diluted.
The technical content in this news release was reviewed and approved by Thomas Skimming, P.Eng, a Director of Appia, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This News Release contains forward-looking statements which are typically preceded by, followed by or including the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward- looking statements and shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such statements.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information, please contact:
Tom Drivas, President, CEO and Director: (tel) 416-546-2707, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) appia@appiaenergy.ca
James Sykes, VP Exploration & Development, (tel) 306-221-8717, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) jsykes@uraniumgeologist.com
Frank van de Water, Chief Financial Officer and Director, (tel) 416-546-2707, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) fvandewater@rogers.com